The Dark Knight Rises

The six-minute prologue that will play before certain IMAX screenings of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol has reportedly been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for "some violence", which is about what you'd expect. [ComingSoon.net]

The Avengers

The United States Army has posted an article talking with reserve soldiers who did extra work as military police in the big climactic showdown that was recently filmed in Cleveland, which is standing in for New York City in the film. The piece mentions that the reservists played foot soldiers, drivers, and medics in the battle sequence. Here's a couple highlights:

Lt. Col. John Clearwater: "The combat scenes had great realism. It's a tribute to the U.S. Army Reserves and the veteran 391st MP Battalion. They rocked the streets of Cleveland with their 50-caliber machine guns and Mark-19's. The film crew was blown away by their firepower and teamwork."

Staff Sgt. Michael T. Landis: "It's easy for us to make on-the-spot corrections to tactics and uniforms. The director [Joss Whedon] actually took our recommendation on one scene and let us all engage the enemy as opposed to only the gunners in the trucks engaging."

The Amazing Spider-Man

I'd take this with a grain of salt, but here's some concept art from the movie's tie-in video game that shows, among other things, the Oscorp building and Peter Parker's apartment building. Of course, there's no way of knowing how much these actually resemble what we'll see in the movie itself. [Latino Review]

Neuromancer

Splice director Vincenzo Natali's adaptation of William Gibson's iconic cyberpunk novel has reportedly found a star, at least according to producer Peter Hoffman. The producer says that Bruce Willis is attached to the project, as is Transformers producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura. However, according to Willis's representatives, he is only reading the script, which isn't nearly the same thing. Anyway, it's not clear which character Willis is playing, but the most likely guess is probably not lead character Henry Dorsett Case, but instead the shadowy former military officer Armitage. Anyway, take all this with a grain of salt until we hear more. [Thompson on Hollywood]

The Darkest Hour

Here's a new poster for the Moscow-set alien invasion thriller. [ComingSoon.net]

Immortals

Here's some set footage from Tarsem Singh's Greek gods epic.

There's also a ton of interviews with stars Henry Cavill, Frieda Pinto, Luke Evans, and Stephen Dorff. You can check them all out in the gallery on the left.

Breaking Dawn

Director Bill Condon reveals that this film doesn't just have more pensive glares, breathy whispering, and gratuitous teen shirtlessness than James Cameron's Avatar... it's also got even more special effects shots. He explains:

The big thing is, it's got more special effects shots than Avatar. Almost every shot is a special effects shot and I'd never done that before so for me it was like going to school on all that stuff and I loved it - especially when we get into this stuff when it's really subtle, tiny little things that happened with Kristen as she gets sicker and sicker. To watch the way you can use it [special effects] to tell a story, it was a real revelation for me.

I, Frankenstein

The film, which stars Aaron Eckhart as Frankenstein's monster who has survived for centuries and now fights crime in a post-apocalyptic city ripped apart by warring clans, has found its location. The movie is planning to shoot in Victoria, Australia, with production set to begin early next year. [Encore Magazine]

The Host

Twilight author Stephenie Meyer's other book has picked up another cast member for its big screen adaptation, as I Am Number Four and The Lovely Bones actor Jake Abel has been cast as Ian opposite star Saoirse Ronan, who plays a human resistance fighter whose mind is slowly consumed by a parasitic alien known as the Wanderer. Abel's character Ian is described as "a human who initially attacks Wanderer, but eventually falls in love with her", which... yep, that sounds like a Stephenie Meyer character all right. [Deadline]

Here There Be Monsters

Robert Zemeckis is reportedly no longer directing this movie, which is basically a biopic of Scottish-turned-America-turned-Russian naval legend John Paul Jones, just with sea monsters thrown in because history is boring, I guess. Zemeckis was originally attached to the project, which is written by L.A. Confidential and Mystic River writer Brian Helgeland and produced by The Fighter's Todd Lieberman. Speaking of which, Lieberman says he would love to cast his Fighter star Christian Bale as Jones. Here's Lieberman's take on the project, which only sounds like satire:

"It's an original idea that came from Thomas Tull, who runs Legendary Pictures. It's basically a retelling of the John Paul Jones story but inserting a sea monster into the mix. It could be a great, historical, epic, fun, sea monster movie -– something I've never done before. Hopefully we can get that one up and running."

Woman in Black

Here's a new photo of Daniel Radcliffe in his first post-Potter role, a young lawyer contending with an evil
spirit in the British countryside. [Fangoria]

Dreamt

Martin Weisz, the auteur behind The Hills Have Eyes II, has been hired to direct this psychological thriller written by Andrew Alexander. Here's the moderately intriguing synopsis:

Set in modern day, Dreamt tells the tale of two people who have a supernatural connection and therefore are actually dreaming in each other's lives. Conflict ensues after the men discover each other's existence, leading one man to try to take over the other's life and stopping at nothing to get it.

Killer Pizza

MGM has reportedly bought Adam Green's adaptation of the Greg Taylor novel, which is about "14-year old boy who lands a summer job at a pizza joint that is actually a front for a monster hunting enterprise." The movie is reportedly part of MGM's effort to develop movies along the lines as such well-remembered 80s films as The Goonies and Gremlins. [Deadline]

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Steven Soderbergh's adaptation of the 1960s spy-fi series has lost its would-be star, as Bradley Cooper has reportedly passed on playing the American half of the spy team, Napoleon Solo. [The Wrap]

Fringe

Executive producer Jeff Pinkner explains how Peter's disappearance ties into the show's larger emotional narrative, and that they're not just trying to frustrate viewers:

We are very, very, very mindful of not purposefully or even unintentionally frustrating the audience. We also know that… look, we love Peter. We love the relationship. We crafted that relationship. We didn't pull Peter out of the relationship because a) we didn't enjoy it or b) we didn't see where it could go forward. We're as frustrated as everyone. We're writing this show constantly — and by we, I mean all of us — and we're making the show from the point of view of fans who want to see our characters be happy. But in order to earn that, we need to go through patches where they aren't happy. Otherwise, there's no sunshine without rain, you know? Sometimes it gets boring living in Southern California weather — you take the sun for granted, as crazy as that sounds. That's why spring is so much more meaningful on the east coast than it is on the west coast because there's actually a change and rebirth. So for all of those feelings to have the appropriate degree of satisfaction [for Peter's return], you need to go through some rough places first.

Chuck

Once Upon a Time

Here's a short description for episode seven, "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter":

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" - One of the town's residents begins to remember their fairytale past, and Storybrooke mourns the loss of one of their own. Meanwhile, in the fairytale world that was, the Evil Queen attempts to find a heartless assassin to murder Snow White.

Being Human (US)

Here's a promo for season two. There's also another at the link, along with some speculation. [BuddyTV]

The Vampire Diaries

Here's a sneak peek at tonight's episode, "Homecoming."

Star Paul Wesley's real-life wife Torrey DeVitto, who has previously been seen on Pretty Little Liars, has reportedly been cast as Mary, "an intelligent young doctor intrigued by Alaric's (Matt Davis) powers of recovery." The character will definitely appear in episodes ten and eleven, and it's thought likely that she will be a recurring character after that. [The Live Feed]

Girlfriends actress Persia White has reportedly been cast as Abby Bennett, the mother who abandoned Kat Graham's Bonnie. The character is described as "a beautiful but troubled woman who is burdened by the secrets of her past that led her to leave Bonnie" who is "as determined and fiery as any Bennett woman." The character will debut in episode twelve and recur after that. [EW]

The Secret Circle

Executive producer Andrew Miller explains how the show will deal with its source material, L.J. Smith's books:

"We're definitely not trying to get away from the books. In a weird way, I think in the next chunk [of episodes] we're almost embracing the books more. Because we can't follow the books as a road map, because it's so different, even just 13 to 6 and all of that stuff. On the horizon of the books are amazing relationships and dynamics that we're like, 'okay, good. We're going to reach for that and go for that and hit that.' Strangely, Nick is as big a departure as you could ever imagine, but then I think in the next few episodes we're, in a weird way, going closer to the books than we have in the past."

Green Lantern: The Animated Series

Well, everything comes back to Hal and how he was before he was a Green Lantern and in his earth life. Now he's not on earth and is in outer space, but he's still going to deal with his problems the same way. He's still going to have that fighter pilot attitude, and he's going to take those risks and run purely on his instinct. I think that's a bit foreign to the Guardians who aren't used to that. And while Hal has some respect for authority, he still lives by his own code. There's that butting of heads with the Guardians as a result, and that's all grounded in his earth dealings for sure.

He also discusses which comics most informed his performance:

The things that really helped me hone in my performance were comics like "Secret Origin." That's one I took a lot of inspiration from. That really gave an insight to me into his family life — into the dynamic between his mother and brother and what happened with his father. Something that stuck with me was that image of Hal risking being disowned by heading out on his 18th birthday to enlist while wearing his dad's flight jacket. That was hugely powerful to me, and it kind of summed him up. And as the recording process went on, I kept reading more and more GL and am still reading. Some of the issues with Kyle [Rayner] where you see Hal's reaction to everything he knows being gone — that was also very telling as to his character. So my interpretation of Hal came pretty directly from the comics. I looked at the character art, made a couple of audio/voice choices, and then the attitude came from what I read.